MSNBC.com hires VP of marketing

NEW YORK: Catherine Captain has joined MSNBC.com as VP of marketing. She was previously the director of marketing research at USA Today.

In her new position, Captain will oversee all marketing functions within the company, including advertising, PR, consumer research, and user experience.

"At USA Today I had a great opportunity to really explore the consumer-centric idea of approaching marketing," she said. "I'm going to try to bring a huge piece of that here because MSNBC.com is such a strong brand and has something that really resonates with people, but internally hasn't defined exactly what it is."

She said that PR would play a critical part in the marketing plan.

"It's one tool in the toolbox," she said. "Once we understand more specifically what consumers love about MSNBC.com, we can communicate that and make sure we deliver that."